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On March 18th (the day after St.Patty's) I was involved in a rather expensive skateboarding accident on Folsom St. near 17th. I will admit that I was drinking and that I did have a little too much liquid courage and that it was totally my fault. Yet I am surprised by how many people (nurses, doctors, coworkers, friends, waiters, dentists, baristas, checkers, etc.) were quick to judge, most concluding that I should not be riding a skateboard at all ever. This is slightly shocking to me, considering that I would not have received such advice after a bicycle accident or a car accident or if i were simply walking and tripped on the same crack. Consider the factors involved:

1. The sidewalk was full of large cracks.


2. I had never skated down that particular stretch of sidewalk before.


3. There were no street lights for several blocks from 15th to about 19th.


4. The city makes no effort to improve street surface conditions and actually makes them worse on a regular basis by digging more holes in my street.


5. I have been skating for about 20 years.

Here is some of the damage i suffered:

• 1 radial head fracture (broken elbow)


• 1 sprained wrist


• 8 stitches on my lower lip, which i bit through


• 4 stitches on my chin


• 1 chipped maxillary central incisor, fixed with fillings


• 1 chipped maxillary lateral incisor, fixed with filling


• 1 snapped maxillary central incisor, due for a root canal and veneer


• Spinal alignment issues cuased by use of sling, treated by chiropractor


• 1 almost broken nose

I am lucky, for most of these injuries were on the threshhold of being much worse. Already my road rash has healed, my face looks normal and my stitches are gone. The arm is going to take a while to heal and I'm getting really good at living without it. My overall bill is going to be several thousand dollars between all the dental work and my 24 hours in SF General Hospital. I have to ask myself, would I have fallen in the daytime, or under the illumination of high pressure sodium street lights? Would I have fallen if there was no crack in the sidewalk? Would I have landed more or less harshly if I were sober and stiff? Had an old lady had tripped on that same crack and broke her hip, would the nurses tell her not to walk anymore? Would a personal injury lawsuit against the city of Sann Francisco do any good for anyone?